The Purple Heart Truck

Decorated Combat Veteran, Herb Delbridge, personally undertook this project as a tribute with his own funds to Americans who served honorably in the Vietnam Conflict. The Fire Truck is a 1983 Ford diesel. Delbridge is an active member, and Former Commander of our Chapter.

Firetrucks were built to be noticed. They’re big. They’re loud. And for Herbert Delbridge, they’re the perfect platform for honoring Vietnam veterans.

Delbridge, 73, a Rockville resident, has been frustrated with the public’s treatment of Vietnam veterans for more than 40 years.

“It was terrible,” he said, sitting in a folding chair in his front lawn. “And still to this day, it makes me feel bad about what happened — our welcome home Vietnam vets never got.”

But times are about to change.

After riding in a parade with the Military Order Purple Heart Chapter 1965, the Army and Marines veteran devised a plan to display the war’s untold stories loud and proud on the flanks of a firetruck..."